Slaughtered animals such as cows, pigs and sheep are cut in the longitudinal direction by dividing the spinal column into two as two animal-half-bodies to be used for food. Then, the animal-half-body including the spinal column is cut into three in the longitudinal direction so as to be divided into three parts of shoulder loin part, loin/rib part, and thigh part for making three blocks of meat. Subsequently, the spinal column, the ribs, and other bones are removed from each block of meat. Conventionally, the spinal column has been removed by cutting the meat in parallel with the spinal column using a round edge cutter as in Japanese Patent Laid-open Publication No. 5-153901.
Japanese Patent Laid-open Publication No. 5-153901,